A review of The Melody of Faith

Guroian thinks that theology is more analogous to music than it is to architecture. The themes in this work, from creation to the resurrection, do not build upon each other like architecture, but rather are like motifs that provide a variation on a theme. To West­erners' ears these themes will sound as though written in a strange key. Readers are made aware that Orthodoxy provides alternatives to Augustine on theological anthropology or Anselm on the atonement. Guroian has some felicitous turns of phrase, e.g., "God is not an art critic who makes aesthetic judgments, nor is God a philosopher who issues metaphysical definitions or decrees. Rather, God is more like a cantor who chants his Creation into existence and rejoices everlastingly over its beautiful harmony. His song continues, and its melody moves and inspires humankind to restore beauty and harmony to a Creation that is fallen and misshapen."